First of all, I am delighted to tell you that thanks to you and your society members the ISR is now in the healthiest position financially that it has been since its inception. Moreover, we are beginning to be more active and I am excited about what the year 2016 will bring.

We have been able to reach this solid position by dealing with delinquent societies and changing the fee schedule. Now, let’s work together to make the best use of these finances: to support a variety of grants to the members, print directories every three years, fund research projects, rebuild the Hermann Rorschach Archives, and fund the 100th anniversary of Hermann Rorschach in 2021. The ISR Board and I are open to any other suggestions you may have, so please feel free to contact me.

Membership & New Societies

I have given you the good news about the current financial status, but that does not mean that we can sit back and relax, because in fact our membership numbers are declining, and so I want to encourage you all to ‘grow’ your societies. Additionally, if you have any contact from other countries or groups, please encourage them to form new societies and application form is available from our website (rorschach.com).

I have several other issues I would like to bring to your attention and although this will make a rather long letter, I would appreciate your reading to the end.
Members’ Name List

Last year I asked you to supply me with a list of the members of your society and their functioning email addresses because we would like to get rid of the “token” system in which we annually send societies numbers to be distributed to members to allow them to access the online Rschachiana. Eliminating this token system will speed up our efficiency and also save us a great deal in costs.

However, so far only 10 out of the 24 societies have supplied name lists: Argentina (ADEIP), Austria, Czech Republic, France, Italy (Association Italiana), Japan (2 societies), Spain, Turkey and the UK.

I realize this is a troublesome task, but it is very important. We are moving from a society-based to a member-based ISR, and so the e-mail information is vital. We want to create better services for and direct communication between the members and the ISR. This ISR members’ name list will enable us to:
• Discriminate member from non-member. At present, even if we create different fee schedules for members and non-members at the ISR Congresses and Summer Seminars etc. it is hard to confirm the person’s actual membership status.
• Make a “member list directory” every 3 years at the time of the International Congress to facilitate members’ communication with each other.
• Distribute the Bulletin and other regular materials to members so that the communication between members and the Board will be closer, easier and speedier.
• Activate “Members only” area on the webpage and provide variety of services such as name list, current important report and information and updated information from our Archives, etc.

I would appreciate your attending to this right away. Please send the information to our Secretary, Pascal Roman <pascal.roman@unil.ch> and to me <ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp> by February 29, 2016. If your society has any specific difficulty concerning this name list, please let me know.

New Office Manager

I have to apologize for any inconvenience you and your society may have experienced due to various communication difficulties we had between our society and Hogrefe over the last year. As it was the first year of my presidency it took time to understand what was happening and what was wrong.

Fortunately, we are implementing some new procedures and I am happy to report that we now have an office manager within Hogrefe assigned specifically to deal with all ISR business. Her name is Mrs. Sushila Dixit and she can be contacted at manager.isr@hogrefe.ch.

Summer Seminars & Next Board Meeting

The Summer Seminars in Montreux were successfully concluded in 2015 and were attended by 30 participants from 11 countries. Detailed information will be included in the next Bulletin, so please take a look.

The next Summer Seminars will be held July 23-25, 2016 in Italy. We can both learn and relax staying in the wonderful location of Genova. The theme will be “Neuro-psychology and the Rorschach & Projective Tests.” Please look for the possibility of your participation, as well as that of the members of your society.

Prior to those seminars, on July 21-22, 2016, we will hold our next Board Meeting. Please let me know with details of any issues that you would like raised. I will be glad to reflect your opinions, ideas and requests at the Board Meeting.

Next Congresses 2017 & 2020

Please plan to participate July 16 to 21, 2017 in the XXII ISR Congress to be held in the heart of central Paris (in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral). and also invite your members to come. Nothing is more exciting than seeing, listening to and learning from each other face to face! For further information, please visit our web site <rorschach.com>
We are also looking ahead to the following congress. Fortunately, one active society has already shown an interest in hosting the 2020 ISR Congress. However, the Board would like to hear from other interested societies, so, we will wait until May 2016 to allow you an opportunity to compete. Please contact me if your society might want to host this triennial academic international event.

Hermann Rorschach’s Trial Blots on the Webpage to be Used for Free

A few months ago I found 17 YouTube sites that showed and explained all 10 Rorschach test cards in an unprofessional way. To counter this kind of activity, the Board has decided to put up on the ISR website three different Hermann Rorschach’s trial blots for free to use as a sample of the Rorschach cards.

From an ethical point of view, we really do not want any professional psychologist to show or explain the 10 cards as test material on a website. Professional psychologists should know how unprofessional it is and that it is a misuse of the nature of the test.

I would like to ask you as a the president of one of the ISR societies to join us in ‘guarding’ the Rorschach test, and rather than ignoring their breach of ethics, actively encourage such people to stop. I hope each Rorschach society will stand firm and take steps if an offender is one of your members. Whenever you come across an unethical site on the Internet please let me know and I will send a letter from the ISR to try to stop that activity.

Individual Members

Finally, I would like to extend my personal welcome to the 6 new Individual Members who were approved for membership at the July Board Meeting. They are as follows:

ISR

Time has passed quickly and we will have a board meeting next month, July 28-29. I would like to communicate with you and hope to hear back from you; I will be glad to reflect your opinions, ideas and requests at the Board Meeting.

There are 7 topics I want to bring to your attention today:

1) Membership lists – names and e-mail addresses
First of all, were you able to gather the functioning e-mail addresses of all the members of your society? I know it is hard work. However, we are moving from a society-based to a member-based ISR, and so the e-mail information is vital. The purpose of this change is to create better services for and direct communication between the members and the ISR. Please send your membership list at the latest by July 19 to our Secretary, Pascal Roman <pascal.roman@unil.ch> and me <ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp>.

2) 2020 ISR Congress Hosting Society
Before the deadline of May 31, 2015, we received just one application. However, we would now like to give you a further opportunity to consider hosting the ISR Congress in 2020. We are open and waiting for your active involvement in the ISR. The ISR will help and support you based on the knowledge we have gained in the past. Hosting a Congress is hard work but an experience well worth having. Please get in touch with me if you need more information. Please send your application by July 19 to our Secretary, Pascal Roman <pascal.roman@unil.ch> and me <ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp>

3) Interdisciplinary Cooperation
As I shared with you last year in my first letter in last year August, I would like to shift our focus on international psychological assessment to a new era of stimulating inter-disciplinary cooperation. The 2017 ISR XXII Paris Congress will be a very good chance to involve and share psychological research and practice with other professionals. Please take time to think about what you can do and with whom you can connect. Please send me your ideas of any symposium, round table and presentation you can think of.

4) XXII ISR Congress in Paris
July 17 to 21, 2017 is the date and the venue will be in the heart of Paris near the Notre Dame cathedral. Please plan to participate and also invite your members to come. Nothing is more exciting than seeing and listening to each other face to face. For further information, please visit our web site <Rorschach.com>

5) Summer Seminars in Montreux (Switzerland)
With nearly 30 participants from about 12 different countries, we will study about “Defense Mechanisms” with three outstanding lecturers, Phebe Cramer, Howard Lerner and Filippo Aschieri. Places are still available. It will be after the Board Meeting, July 30-31 and August 1. Please see the website <rorschach.com> for more information, or contact me <ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp>.

6) Website
There is an “Upcoming Events” section on the top page. This is for you! I would like to encourage you to give us information about your society’s annual meetings or events. This information will be uploaded on the ISR web page, so that even if we cannot participate, we will still know what is going on and what is happening all over the world. Please actively use this opportunity. Contact our web master Tevfika Ikiz <tevfikai@yahoo.com> or me <ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp>.

7) Future Project
I would like to organize a “2021 Hermann Rorschach 100 Project”. This will be to celebrate the centenary of Hermann Rorschach’s publication of "Psychodiagnostics" and the 10 plates. This will be one of the items for discussion at the board meeting. It is my hope that we take an interdisciplinary approach which will involve and attract a wide range of interested persons.

Have you received Rorschachiana and the Bulletin for 2014? And were you able to distribute them to your members? In case you have not received them, please let me know. Any comments, worries and problems--please do not hesitate to let me hear them.

Thank you for taking time to read this. I will wait to hear from you!

Sincerely yours,
Noriko Nakamura
ISR President

ISR

Office of the President
4-12-16-617 Bunkyo-ku Hongo
Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
12th August 2014

Dear Presidents,

This is my first formal letter to you as the new president of the ISR. First, please allow me to thank you for the warm congratulations that I received from so many of you. I know this will not be an easy job, but at the same time I am very happy to have the support of several people whose experience I can refer to when things get tough. I’m also not a native speaker of English and I am the first President from outside of Europe or the US, but I hope that I can bring a new perspective to the position.

I also want to express my thanks to Fernando Silberstein and Justin McCarthy Woods, who are leaving the Board after years of service, for volunteering their time and efforts for our benefit in this way. It was my great pleasure to be able to work with them and they will be sorely missed. Also my deep gratitude goes to Trudi Finger for more than 30 years of tireless service as the Treasurer and I wish her many years of happy retirement.

Now, I want to raise some important issues for us to deal with together.

1. Feedback.
I feel particularly strongly that the President and Board members of the ISR exist to serve the members of the society, and I look forward to energizing the organization through new blood from the membership. In order to accomplish this goal, I would like to ask you to send me your ideas and/or hopes for the ISR—the Board and I need to hear your voices!

I would like you to send any thoughts or advice directly to my e-mail ezg03367@nifty.ne.jp. I will be glad if you would always begin by putting [ISR] first in the email subject line so that I do not miss your message and to prevent it from mistakenly going into the SPAM box.

2. Clear Communication
a. Correct email addresses
In order to communicate effectively, it is essential that we have the correct, current contact information for each member of the ISR. Please send it to the Secretary, Roman Pascal pascal.roman@unil.ch by 15th of November 2014:

b. Updating
Please inform the ISR Secretary of updated information whenever there is a change in any of the above details.

3. Website
It is essential that all information posted on our website (rorschach.com) is correct and updated. Please send by return mail to both the Secretary pascal.roman@unil.ch and the webmaster tevfikai@yahoo.com
- Current information about the Board of your society (President, Secretary etc.) + a contact e-mail
- The URL of the website of your society (if any) so that we can put a link to your Society

When visiting our newly restructured website (rorschach.com) you will notice that we have created a “Members Only” section.
This section is strictly for members, only open to the individual members of your Society who will be able to directly access Rorschachiana online, the Bulletin and many other interesting items, as well as an international membership directory.
So as to ensure that all registered persons are recognized current members of your Society, we will need to receive from you yearly an updated membership list.

We believe that the “Members only” section of the ISR website will serve as a strong incentive for the members of your societies to renew their membership, and attract potential new members to join your Society.

We therefore ask you to send to the Secretary your current membership list (only names and e-mails). We guarantee full confidentiality, i.e. the list will not be communicated to anybody, will not be put as such on any website and will only serve to check the true membership of individual members.

4. Interdisciplinary Cooperation
I would like to shift our focus on international psychological assessment to a new era of stimulating inter-disciplinary cooperation. We are an international society made up of 2,500 highly trained specialists with one hundred years of collective experience in the Rorschach, but we mostly keep our knowledge to ourselves! I believe it is vital that we share our expertise and that we communicate with other professionals, such as educators, doctors, psychiatrists, career counsellors, and fostering agencies, forensic experts to make it known how important Rorschach assessment is and what valuable and unique skills we have to offer. In other words, we should shift from in-fighting and instead concentrate on developing the means to explain and show the value of our work to others. If we do not, we will become increasingly viewed as irrelevant and will die out.
Please send me your ideas about joint researches or workshops that we could hold to spread the word about the value of Rorschach and psychological assessment or any other ideas you have to achieve the goal I have outlined here.

5. Applications for the 2020 ISR Congress
Now is the time for all member societies to think about hosting the 23rd ISR Congress in 2020. Those who wish to apply to host it should inform both the Secretary and myself by 31st May 2015. Once all applications have been received, the Secretary will then circulate them to the other Board members so that we can have time to look at them before discussing them at the annual Board Meeting in July 2015.

6. New Members
a. I am pleased to inform you that two new societies have joined
the ISR this year. They are:
 Sociedad Mexicana de Rorschach y Metodos Psicodiagnosticos A.C. (41 members)
 IRPSI Istituto Italiano Rorschach e Psicodiagnostica Integrata (40 members)

One society has left the ISR, the SIRCS Societa Italiana per il Rorschach Comprehensive System.

b. We are also glad to welcome 11 new individual members, ten from Russia and one from Denmark.
7. XXII ISR Congress in Paris
Lastly. I am looking forward to seeing you all at the next ISR Congress in Paris! Meeting once in every three years is important. Nothing can be more exciting than meeting old friends and new professionals in face to face. Please plan your presentation and let me hear your voices.
Date: July 17th to 21st 2017
President: Benoit Verdon
Venue: Congress Center “Les Cordeliers”, in the heart of the ‘Quartier Latin’ (near the Notre Dame cathedral).
Theme: “Developments in projective research and Practice emerging issues and discoveries”

Thank you for taking the time to read through this long message. I am excited about working closely with you over the next three years of my presidency and I look forward to receiving your input.

Important dates:
November 15, 2014—Deadline for providing the names and email addresses of Board members. Send to the ISR President, Secretary and webmaster.
November 30, 2014 _Deadline for sending membership lists. Send to the Secretary.
May 31, 2015—Deadline for applications for hosting the 2020 ISR Congress. Send to the ISR President and the Secretary.

ISR

ISR Guideline for the Use of Rorschach® Test Material

BEWARE!

The International Society of the Rorschach and Projective Methods (ISR) is aware that several sets of purported Rorschach cards are presently available on the market and that some psychologists are confused about which set to acquire for testing their clients. The ISR wishes to remind its members that article 2.2 of its by-laws states:

2.2 The Society recognizes as the only legitimate inkblots constituting the Rorschach Test those produced and published by Verlag Hans Huber of Bern, Switzerland.

Insofar as the ISR is a non-profit organization and receives no royalties whatsoever from the selling of the Hans Huber series, that statement merits some explanation.

As attested by his correspondence with the printer and publisher (Springer), Hermann Rorschach was extremely anxious to see his inkblots reproduced as closely as possible to the original cards he had designed. He went to great lengths to obtain a satisfactory result and paid considerable attention to details (coloring, shading, contrasts …). Hans Huber Verlag has inherited the original prints and proofs and scrupulously followed Hermann Rorschach’s recommendations.

As a matter of fact, the reproduction of the Rorschach plates is a very complex procedure which cannot be executed by simply scanning previous set of cards. Differences between original editions by Hans Huber and other editions are clearly visible and psychologists should solely use the Hogrefe/Hans Huber set of cards.

Although the copyright on the images is terminated, the test itself is protected by a trademark. The ISR recognizes that the Rorschach Test must retain its original qualities and properties, which go far beyond a simple image: the original edition conveys many “impressions”, “feelings”, and nuances that are completely lost in reproductions that do not follow Hermann Rorschach’s recommendations and are not based on the original prints.

The ISR defends the ethical use of test material and requires that all members exclusively use the Hogrefe/Huber set of cards which has been in use for nearly 100 years and ensure their trainees do the same. We also urge all Rorschach practitioners and researchers, whether ISR members or not, to adhere to the same standards.